Issue - meetings

The Committee will receive a presentation to share the arrangements being made to prepare for forthcoming CQC inspection.

Pete Sidgwick and Ian Redfern gave a presentation to outline the work being undertaken to prepare for the recommencement of CQC inspections.

The presentation included slides on:

• Who are the CQC?
• Why are CQC assessing local authorities?
• The assessment framework for local authorities
• The key aspects of CQC local authority assurance
• The key components of the approach
• Theme 1: How local authorities work with people
• Theme 2: How local authorities provide support
• Theme 3: Ensuring safety within the system
• Theme 4: Leadership
• The CQC six evidence categories
• How we have approached CQC assurance
• What we have done to prepare
• Our CQC assurance opportunities
• Our CQC assurance challenges
• What improvement work we are doing
• Next steps

Pete Sidgwick provided a summary of the CQC approach over the next two years to undertake baselining activity of performance across the country. This would include a significant new area for client level data for every person supported, by every local authority in the country. It would be challenging as each organisation had different ways of recording the data.  It was viewed as a sensible way forward and would give assurance to the public. He talked about the CQC approach for one-word judgements ranging from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Inadequate’. Pete provided assurance, exploring the areas where Warwickshire needed to focus around waiting lists and reviews. He explained the requirement for an annual review or assessment for clients in receipt of long-term support as a particular focus. From meeting with the CQC it was expected their focus would be on safety. There would be a need to demonstrate that services were safe and that clients’ care and support needs were being met. Ian Redfern added there was a CQC expectation that there would be areas for improvement in each local authority. It was expected that local authorities should be aware of the improvement areas and have realistic plans in place to achieve them. Pete added that this would be a different oversight regime to that of the Ofsted approach.

Questions and comments were invited with responses provided as indicated:

• A member welcomed this approach, whilst posing questions around the integration of health and social care IT systems to provide the single assessment. She asked about the arrangements for dementia services, using an example to show the challenges faced. She looked forward to the new framework. Pete Sidgwick spoke of the narrative for the documents which needed to be concise and could not detail every service. It did explain how people in different cohorts/groups were supported, including those with dementia and their carers, also the services provided direct and those commissioned from other providers. This process could be uplifting and should be enabling rather than punitive. It was considered that there was a positive account to give of Warwickshire’s services, whilst wanting to learn and improve.
• A councillor considered inspection to be essential, particularly for public sector services in identifying strengths, reinforcing good behaviour, reassuring staff and to give examples of good practice that could be replicated, whilst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6